Sega and Creative Assembly are removing Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition from sale two days after its October 13 release, and are putting the 2011 original back on storefronts while they investigate the remaster's problems. The publisher and studio announced the move in a joint statement posted to X, Steam and Sega's social channels.
We're aware that Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition has fallen short of both your expectations and our own standards. We've seen your feedback, comments, and reviews. We agree that the current experience is not where it needs to be.
The statement says existing owners keep access to the Complete Edition while it is off sale, and that the companies are working with their development partner to identify the causes of the problems, deliver improvements and bring the release up to the standard players expect from Total War. No date has been given for its return. Polygon and IGN identify the partner as Mataboo, a Polish co-development and porting studio whose credits include The Blood of Dawnwalker.
What players objected to
Before the delisting, the Complete Edition carried an Overwhelmingly Negative user rating on Steam. Polygon and PCGamesN put approval at 17%, while VGC reported 19% across more than 2,000 reviews. The most prominent complaint concerned the remaster's art: players posted unit cards and storyboard cutscene frames they said showed signs of AI upscaling, including a samurai whose face merged into his helmet and characters with extra or missing fingers.
Polygon reports that the Steam page does not disclose any generative AI use, and PCGamesN notes that neither Creative Assembly nor Mataboo has listed any. GameSpot observed that Sega's statement did not address the AI allegations. Players also reported bugs carried over from the 2011 game, new bugs and crashes, poor performance, and a reworked interface criticized as clunky.
Pricing added to the backlash. The Complete Edition costs $39.99, or $9.99 as an upgrade for owners of the original, and Sega had removed the 2011 version from sale when the remaster launched, leaving the new edition as the only one available to buy. According to PCGamesN, many user reviews said the release felt more like a free update than a paid remaster.
The remaster had been advertised with improved textures, lighting and shadows, 1440p and 4K UI scaling, modernized controls, more than 50 newly playable minor factions, Japanese and Chinese voice acting, and integrated mod support. Polygon notes that the episode follows Sega's replacement of Yakuza 0 on Steam with a director's cut in December 2025.
